Keeping Boundaries

Chapter 1: Miss. Perfect

Deep inside I knew she did not deserve it... Sydney White walked up on stage claiming her Queen of Summer prize. I mean who else would it be, besides the one and only Miss. Perfect?

If only people knew her like I do. She is not as nice as everyone thinks she is. But to be fair, most people only call her ‘nice’ because they are afraid of her. She can ruin your life with one click of a button. She has dirt on every one and I’m not talking about your typical blackmail, I mean like real shit that can make you want to crawl in a hole and die.

She’s smiling and waving her hand innocently while claiming her crown. This is just a practise run for prom queen, everyone knows she has it in the bag. She has been preparing since she took her first breath. 

Monday came soon, too soon if you ask me. Honestly, I despise school. Not because of the homework or assigned tasks that take forever to do, no not because of any of those, but because of the people. These so-called 'people' are not the ordinary type of people... They call themselves 'humans', but have no humanity... Or non-that I know of at least. That may sound dramatic but it’s true. Here it’s eat or be eaten.

The only acceptable people in this school are my friends, or as I call them, the closest thing to a family I have left. Clara Brownson, Becky Mulsan and Eric Flinders are the lights in this dark time zone called junior year. Speak of the devils, Clara and Becky are standing at the entrance to our homeroom class. Lost in their own conversation, they don’t even notice me approaching I know they like each other, but neither of them are willing to admit it.

I also don’t think they want to ruin the friendship they worked years on building. Though, they’d make a good couple. I only joined the cult in middle school and for a while we were a trio of best friends until we started high school. That’s when Eric decided to tag along.

One day we saw kids bullying him for being gay. We scared them of, note that they were 3 grades younger than us, but still. He deeply appreciated it. And since then we were inseparable.

First period of the day and the Queen of Mean strikes already. "Dear fellow students..." I hear Sydney’s annoying voice over the intercom. "Today is the last day of school before the fabulous Summer Break!" The whole class starts making a riot and the loud sound of fists hitting the tables surrounds the air and I can’t even hear myself think.

Sydney is very excited for Summer Break, because it's the perfect time for her to throw parties, get black out drunk and gather her black mail material... Although, 'Fabulous' is the last word I would use to describe it...

Sydney continues to blabber on "So to say thank you for voting me to be The Summer queen, I have a little surprise. Not much, just an old tape I found." She plays the tape and I instantly recognize it... Freshman year at the first party of our lives, Clara confessed her feelings, on video, to the most popular guy in Clifton High, Mr. Perfect Quinton Anderson (The Third), AKA prince charming. Comes from a wealthy family and takes the prize for ‘most desirable bachelor’.

Well technically he is supposed to be Sydney’s boyfriend. They had a fight this morning and broke up. It would be the biggest news in the school, but they practically do this almost every Monday morning so it’s nothing but routine. I’m sure this day will end just like the rest, with Sydney pushing her tongue down Quinton’s throat.  

The tape plays... "Hey... So that’s Th-the One and only Quinton. What-a-body he has. I mean are those six-packs or lollipops, because I would lick those babies!" I cringe internally and look over to Clara, who is now hiding her face in her hands.

I see tears roll down her, now red, cheeks and she sobs silently as she relives the most embarrassing night of her life. The whole class burst into uncontrollable laughter. Clara stands up and while throwing her bag over her shoulder, she loses her balance and almost falls over but Quinton stops her just in time. Well, this doesn’t help her situation. She doesn’t look him in the eyes. She just turns around and run out of the classroom. The laughter gets louder and my blood slowly starts to boil as I hear Sydney’s voice again. "So, there you go my darlings... I knew you'd like it. Anyways, please remember that all of you are invited to my kick-off summer party. Yes even the nerd group. I’m feeling generous today. Might as well do some charity. That’s all from your queen!" As she turns off the intercom I hear her devilish giggles. 

 The bell rings and I rush through a war zone of paper planes and other unknown objects that are being thrown around. Outside of the classroom isn’t any better. The hallway is crowded and my eyes struggle to scan through the very full hallway for Clara.

I rush to our usual spot. Just outside the drama class. And as I suspected, she is here. She lifts her head and exposes her swollen eyes. I take a seat next to her and momentarily hold my breath as I adjust to the cold temperature of the concrete beneath me.

I rap my one arm around her in an effort to comfort her. Without really knowing if I should say something, I decide it is better to get rid of the unpleasant silence. “Don’t let her get into your head.” Her gaze shifts back to her shoes as she says, “We used to be best friends. Why does she hate me now?” Oh, yeah. I kinda forgot Sydney once had a soul. She, Clara and Becky were really good friends. The OG gang.

When I joined the group Sydney already chose popularity over her best friends. Now, for some reason, she enjoys making their lives hell whenever she gets bored. “I’m really sorry you had to go through that again. I don’t know why Sydney keeps doing this. I can’t imagine how it must make you feel.” Her eyes sparkle and I hear a silent giggle under her breath. “What’s so funny?” I ask her. “Well. Whenever I wish I didn’t go to school with Sydney, I remember you have to live with her. And that help me realise that I don’t have it as badly.” The sides of her lips start to twitch and ends in a sincere smile. “Ha, ha. You’re so funny”